Phalen



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC RUDOLF GRAF W'ESTPIIALEN, OF VIENNA,AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

METALLIC COVERING-PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,243, datedSeptember 2'7, 1892.

Application filed June 9,1891. Serial No. 395,698. (No specimens.)

To all whomit may concern.-

Be it known that I, RunoLE GRAF' WEsr- PHALEN, a subject of the Emperorof Austria- Hungary, residing atV ienna,in the Province of LowerAustria, in the Empire of Austria-Hungary,l1ave invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Metallized Covering-Plates Made of Asbestus andother Fibrous Material and in the Process of Making the Same; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to the manufacture of felted stuffs or fabricsused as a means for preventing radiation of heat or as a covering forwallsto exclude cold or to exclude dampness or as a roofing material.Felted materials, especially when made of short fibers, are liable towear rapidly, whether such fabrics are made of vegetable, animal, ormineral fiber, and they also have a great affinity for moisture, ofwhich they absorb great quantities. Various means have heretofore beenresorted to to render these fabrics waterproof and to a greater or lessdegree fireproof; but

jected to friction or by attrition with other hard substances or bodiesand to provide the same with a wearing-surface which is capable of beingornamented for use as interior wall-coverings.

The invention further consists in rendering these improved orstrengthened fabrics water proof, so as to adapt them for use onexterior walls or for roofing purposes.

To these ends the invention consists in the mode of treating feltedfabrics or materials, in a felted and metallized fabric or material, andin such a fabric or material rendered waterproof, as will now be fullydescribed.

In carrying out that part of my invention which relates to thestrengthening of felted fabrics or materials so as to increase theirdurability I provide the same with a metallic coating by first renderingthe material conductive by the application of a conductorof electricity,such as graphite. graphite has been applied to non-conductors ofelectricity, especially to woven fabrics, by

result being an imperfect deposition of the metal. To avoid this, thefelted material, after being thoroughly dusted with graphite, has itsconductive coating burnished or polished by calendering or otherwise,not only to form a smooth conductive coating, but to more intimatelycombine the conductor of electricity with the fibers.

For the purpose of metallizing the materials referred to I preferablyemploy either copper or aluminium, the coating being obtained in theusual way by electroplating.

In case a binding or cementing substance or compound is used in themanufacture of felted fabrics, especially of such fabrics as are made ofshort fibers-as, for instance, fab

rics of asbestus-in the manfacture of which it is desirable to use abinding material, and as the binding materials heretofore usedprincipally chlorideof zinc, glue, starch, &c.-- are decomposed by freeacids, the galvanic bath should be so prepared as not to contain acid inafree state. Neutral copper solutions, for instance, result, however, ina brittle and more or less non-cohesive deposit, and in view of this itis preferable to employ solutions of sulphate of copper in which thefree sulphuric acid is replaced by acid salts of metalsas, for instance,sulphate of soda or of zinc or of 1ron.

When these felted fabrics are designed for use as water and more or lessfire proof materials, I make them of asbestus fiber in the followingmanner: I take fifty parts,byweight, of asbestus fiber, ten parts, byweight, of asbestus-felt waste, ten parts, by weight, of oxide of zinc,and from three hundred to five hundred parts, by weight, of water. Thesesubstances are intimately mixed in a suitable mixing-vessel, afterwhichI successively add thereto, in the order named and while the massis being stirred, first, seven parts, by weight, of a solution ofchloride of zinc of from 50 to Baum; second, ten parts, by weight, of asoap solution, preferably one part, by weight,

Heretofore the simply dusting the latter with graphite, the

of the best quality of soap to ten parts of water; third, twenty-oneparts, byweight, of a solution of alum in the proportion of about threeparts, by weight, of alum to twenty-one of water; fourth, 0.3 parts, byweight, of an aqueous solution of soda, and, lastly, 0.8 parts, byweight, of a solution of sugar of lead in two parts of water. Thesubsequent addition of the zinc chloride forms with the zinc oxidepresent an insoluble composition as the compound becomes concentrated orcondensed the soap, alum, soda, and sugar of lead serving as fillers tofill the interstices between the fibers or the pores of the insolublecomposition, the presence of soda promoting the chemical reactions whichtake place afterward. The composition, having been intimately mixed andrendered perfectly homogeneous, is then con verted by molding orotherwise into slabs or sheets of the desired size for wall or roofcoverings, which sheets or waste in the manufacture of textiles may thusbe utilized for the manufacture of a Valuable material.

Inasmuch as these fabrics are provided with 1. The herein-described modeof manufacturing Water and fire proof materials made of non-conductivefibers, which consists in combining with the fibrous substances oxide ofzinc, chloride of zinc, soap, alum, soda, and sugar of lead, in or aboutin the proportions set forth, and sufficient water to form a compositionadapted to be molded or otherwise formed into slabs or sheets,converting the material into slabs or sheets, applying thereto aconductor of electricity, and electroplating the said slabs or sheets,for the purpose set forth.

2. As an article of manufacture, a water and fire proof slab or sheetcomposed of mineral fibers, oxide of zinc, chloride of zinc, soap, alum,and sugar of lead,and an outer coating of metal, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RUDOLF GRAB 'WESTPHALE I.

Witnesses:

W. B. MURPHY, A. SOHLESSING.

